Supreme Court rejects Cesar Chavez appeal

The Arizona Supreme Court has rejected Cesar Chavez’s appeal to get back on the 7th Congressional District ballot, ruling he missed the deadline to appeal.

Chavez, formerly GOP candidate Scott Fistler, filed his appeal in Maricopa County Superior Court on June 27. In his appeal, Chavez wrote that 422 of the 711 signatures deemed invalid by Superior Court Judge John Rea were, in fact, signed by qualified electors in the district. He contested that those signatures had been misrepresented by attorneys for Alejandro Chavez, the grandson of Hispanic labor icon Cesar Chavez who challenged his place on the ballot.

Judge Rea told Chavez in court on June 17 that he had until June 27 to appeal. However, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal on Monday, citing state law, which says Chavez had five days after Rea issued his written ruling June 18 to appeal the case.

The Supreme Court also noted it would have been “prejudicial” to state and county elections officials to have Chavez placed back on the ballot. Elections officials spent last week certifying early ballots – without Chavez’s name on the name – to be mailed to voters on July 31.